A Pastor in The Northwest

Last Sunday, a guy at church brought in an official shofar for people to see.  It is quite large and is made from the horns of a kosher animal.  In modern Jewish communities, this 'instrument' is blown on the high holiday of Rosh Hashanah, or the Jewish New Year, in the month of Elul. (September). It has significance in reference to the story of Abraham and almost sacrificing his son Isaac, since the proper sacrifice was provided by God with a ram stuck in some bushes (called the Adekah). According to one resource I read today, "The four sounds of the shofar — tekiah, shevarim, teruah, and tekiah gedolah — remind many people of a crying voice. Hearing the shofar’s call is a reminder for us to look inward and repent for the sins of the past year." So, did I blow the trumpet-like shofar?  Well, I tried. No sound but the pathetic blowing of my lungs. However, I did enjoy doing a bit of a 'rabbit trail,' so to speak, on all things shofar!  One of the resources I e...

For the ancient Hebrew calendar, presented in Leviticus 23, everything started with 52 holidays, as it were, of sabbath all-day rests. These days meant 'no ordinary work'. In Hebrew, sabbath means to cease and desist. Traditionally, this was for a 24-hour period from sundown on Fridays to sundown on Saturdays (so, the whole Saturday or the 7th day). How are your days of no ordinary work going for you? May I encourage this practice in you and your family's life as a regular, creation-like rhythm! That said, I was thinking today about the many times we read of Jesus doing miraculous healings on the sabbath day. Even though that often frustrated the Jewish leadership of His day, I think He actually did honor the 'no ordinary work' of the Mosaic (Torah) Law. How? Well, divine miracles by the hand of God Himself are simply NO ORDINARY thing, right? Certainly no ordinary work! Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. And behold, there was a woman w...

Right now, I feel like everyone can't stop thinking and talking about artificial intelligence and how quickly it is advancing into new territory.  Some want to be afraid, some want to let it run wild, and some want to ignore it.  For me, the question remains: what is the proper posture for followers and Jesus who make up His church? I believe followers of Jesus need to have a healthy understanding of what it is and reflect on how best to utilize it as a tool. I don't think it helps to be afraid nor to ignore it.  At the end of the day, however, the church can remain, through any technology or issue of the modern world, a beacon of real relationships, support, and authentic human fellowship. No machine can replace that! Fiercly human, local, real people in authentic relationships! Photo by Igor Omilaev on Unsplash

My wife Jackie and I recently joined many hundreds of people at Bridgetown Church in Portland this past week to do a prayer meditation experience alongside a book launch by John Mark Comer.  Although the material presented was nothing new for us, we really appreciated being together yet in silence, solitude, and reflection.  So much of church life on Sundays is programmed, and we found this gathering refreshing in its simplicity. One of the big takeaways for me was a video showing a 1993 interview of Fred Rogers (the famous Mr. Rogers!), and he spoke of the gift of solitude and silence we could give to each other.  In almost a prophetic moment, he said these words in that interview with Charlie Rose: "I fear today in our world that people are more interested in information than wonder." Wow. Lord, restore wonder in us, we pray! Photo by Brooke Lark on Unsplash

There is an odd movie that I love that came out in 2007.  In fact, I still think about it often.  The movie is Mr. Magorium's Magic Emporium, and it stars some pretty great actors, including Dustin Hoffman, Natalie Portman, and Jason Bateman (one of my favorites!).   There's a line that captured my heart and imagination from the first time I heard Dustin Hoffman's character say it.  Here's the quote: "Your life is an occasion.  Rise to it!" Oh man.  Our lives have a moment in time - a space on the main stage.  We can rise to that moment!   It makes me think of Queen Esther (Hadassah) in the Hebrew Scriptures.  Her uncle challenges her to use her position and status to save her people, the Jewish exiles in Babylon.  She had a choice, so, here's the big moment: 13 Then Mordecai told them to reply to Esther, “Do not think to yourself that in the king's palace you will escape any more than all the other Jews. 14 For if you keep sil...

In thinking about prayer today, I remembered this quote I may have shared in a recent message on the subject: According to Scripture, prayer is an important but not-so-structured part of our relationship with God. We do not have to end with amen. We do not have to close our eyes. It does not have to be a spiritual leader to pray for us. We do not have to use fancy language. Anyone can pray at any time, in any place, for anything. God will listen. The most important thing is to remember why we are praying and to make sure our minds and hearts are prepared before we approach God with our words. Jesus says in Matthew 6:8 that God already knows what we need before we ask. The important thing is to keep that honest line of communication open. -Taffeta Chime https://renew.org/what-does-the-bible-say-about-prayer/?mc_cid=1b2249a0ff&mc_eid=90a3ef166f Keeping the line of communication open - like a text chain with the Lord that we keep responding to throughout the day, right? Lord, help us ...